The Congress jumped to the seer's defence saying that such questions
should not be put before religious leaders in the first place.

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India Today Online

New Delhi

January 23, 2014

UPDATED: January 23, 2014 17:21 IST

Swaroopanand Saraswati

When a news channel reporter prodded Dwarka Peeth Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati to know his views on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the seer lost his cool and slapped the reporter instead.

The seer was in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh to attend a religious programme.

While the religious leader tried to brush off the matter, saying he did not want to discuss politics, the incident has taken political colours with both Congress and BJP taking different stands.

The Congress jumped to the seer's defence saying that such questions should not be put before religious leaders in the first place.

State Congress leader Mayank Aggarwal said, "Sadhus should not be asked political questions in the first place. Secondly, the seer had slapped the reporter only lovingly and this should be blown out of proportion."

Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati

Aggarwal also added that the seer felt bad at being asked about Modi as he wanted the discourse to be around religious issues.

However, the state unit of BJP has taken the matter lightly. Without hitting on the seer directly, party's state spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai said, "We believe that religious leaders are flag-bearers of religion, ethics and truth. They should be epitome of forgiveness. Questions from media are of prime importance and should not be brushed aside."

The seer himself is unfazed. Clarifying on the matter, Shankaracharya Saraswati said, "I slapped the reporter and told him 'you are talking about him (Modi) so that he can remain a topic of discussion'."

On his seething anger at the mere mention of Gujarat Chief Minister, the seer said, "I've no objection in Narendra Modi becoming PM, but he must clarify to people what he wants